The Notebook
by ImaginingAutumn
Summary: Dropped journals reveal startling news. ShinoxIno


**Dear Diary,**

**I'm in love. No doubt about it. But of all the people to fall in love with, I had to fall in love with**_** him**_**. The most unresponsive, most mysterious, most stoic guy I know. No, I mean don't Sasuke (Sasuke could go get the bubonic plague for all I care). I mean Shino Aburume.**

**At first I was like 'Whoa, Ino, you have lost your mind. Shino? The bug boy? You can't be serious. This is social suicide!'**

**But then I realized that I really didn't care.**

**Bugs help flowers and anything that helps flowers has to be good. And then there's the fact that when I'm around him I stutter and blush like Hinata. How **_**embarrassing**_**(I have nothing against Hinata, I'm just stating the facts)!**

**I feel like I'm being ripped apart! I thought love was kind and gentle like in the movies, but in reality it's just a mixture of emotions that make you feel like an idiot! And believe me, Ino Yamanaka was **_**not**_** an idiot.**

"What are you doing?"

Ino shrieked, grabbed some flowers from a nearby vase and stuffed them into the mouth of whoever was behind her. Quickly placing the light purple note book she had been writing in under the counter, she spun around to see a very ticked off Shikamaru with daisies in his mouth. Ino couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"Oh yes, lets laugh at the guy who just got flowers stuffed down his throat. It's so funny to watch him choke. Death by flowers. Great," said Shikamaru, sarcasm dripping over every word, as he plucked the last daisy petal from his mouth.

"So how can I help you today, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Temari's in town this week and is forcing me to take her on a date tonight. Fancy restaurant, fancy clothes, fancy everything. Ugh. So I'm here some flowers so she won't beat me up for not getting her some later," Shikamaru sighed again, "Women are so troublesome." He looked at Ino, "What kind of flowers should I get her?"

"Well normally you would get normal girls red roses, but Temari's not normal. She's one of a kind," said Ino wisely. After years of knowing the sand-nin, she knew that this girl wasn't like any other and had completely different needs than the normal woman.

"So what do I get her then, oh wise-and-powerful florist?" He dodged another daisy.

"Shikamaru, even you should know this! You get her _orchids_. Orchids are one of the most beautiful flowers on the planet, and they show a girl that you care! Remember that and Temari will love you for the rest of your life." said Ino, a far-away, happy, look in her eyes.

And on that note, Shikamaru bought the flowers and quickly made his escape, hoping to avoid a Sasuke rampage. Women were so troublesome, sometimes.

* * *

Ino locked the door to the flower shop with a swift click. It was closing time, meaning 'time to go home and inhale pizza on the couch' time. Ino shivered and rubbed her cold shoulders. A cold front and a bunch of rain clouds had collided last night and the weather channel said it would probably snow. Unfortunately, Ino didn't have a coat.

Why should she? This was the first time in 50 years for there to even be a _possibility _for there to be snow. She started running trying to keep her blood circulating. She couldn't run across the buildings any more due to villagers complaining about waking up at the middle of the night due to ninjas running across their rooftops.

Ino looked down for a minute, 'Almost there' she thought to herself. But her thought was interrupted; she just run into Shino Aburume.

Ino just stared at the man, feeling the blush running towards her cheeks. She looked down to: A. hide her blush and B. out of pure, utter, embarrassment.

"S-sorry Shino. I w-wasn't watching w-where I was g-going." 'Oh great I'm starting to act like Hinata,' thought Ino bitterly, 'what's next, a crush on Naruto?' The thought made her shiver. Far, far, away, in the Hyuga compound, Hinata sneezed.

Ino looked up to see Shino leaving without even a good bye. Had Ino seen the bug masters face, she would have noticed the bright pink blush across his cheeks.

* * *

Through his entire time in the Ninja Academy, Shino had never even ONCE looked at a girl. Ever. He just didn't want to. They were annoying and loud. But one girl stood out of the crowd when it came to opposite sex (not that he would notice that he noticed until later in life). She was Ino Yamanaka, young and full of spirit. She was a strong kunoichi- or really, would be if she just stopped obsessing over boys.

But, of course, he would not realize this until later in life. After they graduated and grew up he started to see more of the blond ninja. She was over boys; after Sasuke left she got her act together and became a powerful foe to many. But why was she important to him? Honestly, he didn't know. She just was. He felt himself compelled to protect her from danger. But he wouldn't tell her that. She'd just laugh at him.

Beautiful blonds don't fall for guys like him.

* * *

Ino entered her home feeling downhearted. Out of all the people to like she had to choose this one. Fate was cruel. 'Oh great, now I'm Neji too? Maybe, when I wake up tomorrow, I'll have the byakugan and I'll look like I'm blind, when I can really see through walls! Wouldn't that be just great?!' Ino thought sarcastically.

She froze. She was being sarcastic. Like a certain deer. Oh god, save us all. Ino picked up a pillow off her couch and screamed into it. Today just wasn't her day.

After she had sufficiently let out her anger, Ino went to her pantry to scavenge some food. As she looked through the bare pantry Ino felt her spirit sink lower and lower. The only kind of food she had in her house were lima beans (which Ino hated more than anything in the entire world, so she wondered why she even had them) and some peanuts (Peanuts were good, but they were nearly all gone and they wouldn't make much of a meal).

Sighing in defeat, she picked up the phone. She quickly dialed the number for the pizza parlor she liked; but the guy on the end of the line sounded way too happy and reminded her of a male cheerleader. This just further irked the young blonde. She quickly ordered a small pepperoni pizza, gave her address, and hung up.

Walking towards her purse, she began to wonder, 'Why was Shino in the flower district? A little odd for him…oh well. He was probably just grabbing some flowers for his bugs.' Reaching down, she picked up the discarded purple bag and began going through it, intent on finding her small purple journal.

"Where is that little bugger?," she muttered to herself.

* * *

Shino wandered some before returning to where he had encountered Ino. He could see every breath he took, small puffs of white appearing with every exhale of air. Looking up at the cloud filled sky he wondered if it might really snow. Snow…such a weird word. It felt foreign to his mind and lips, such a rare thing he barely even talked about it.

The wind was beginning to pick up, sending his hood flying back to reveal spiky brown locks. A shiver ran down his spine and he hurried back down the street. As he stepped forward, his foot landed on something other than concrete. Looking down, he saw purple journal, about an inch thick, with the words, 'Ino Yamanaka's: Keep out!' written across the front. He hastily picked it up. She was probably looking for this, wasn't she? Intent on returning it to her, he began walking in the direction of the Yamanaka household.

His progress was halted as a familiar dog jumped in front of him and tried to tackle him, knocking the purple journal out of his hands.

"Down, Akumaru!" yelled the Kiba, the nin-dog's owner. He was running to catch up with the large canine, a stupid grin on his face as he viewed who the dog had captured, "Heh heh, you must be getting clumsy in your old age, Shino! Either that or you're getting too kind, letting Akumaru getcha like that!"

Shino frowned behind his collar and his brow knit together, "I'm only a month older than you, Kiba." He pushed the dog off of him and got up, wiping dust off his jacket, "And if anything, I would say that you're getting too negligent, letting Akumaru do what he wants like that." Even through his stiff monotone voice, Kiba could tell he was joking with him.

"Laugh it up Shi- oh, hey, what's this?" Kiba picked up Ino's notebook, "Dude, is this Ino's diary or something?" His face lit up as an even larger grin spread across his features, this time with an evil glint in his eye, "Blackmail! Sweet!" Shino quickly tried to take it from him, "Nuh-uh, man, I've been waiting for an opportunity like this!"

"Kiba, give me the notebook. I will not let you do this to Miss Yamanaka."

He stuck his tongue out at him, "Don't be such a goody-goody, Shino! Besides," he said, flipping pages in an effort to look for something interesting, "it's probably just all talking about how much she loves Sasuke and-_what the hell?!_"

Kiba was staring at the book, his eyes as large as saucers. "Uh, um, I," he looked at Shino, and then back at the book again, "How the hell did that happen?!"

Getting more peeved by the second, "I would ask, but I don't think I really want to know."

"Uh, yeah, man, yeah you do," he handed the book to him, "Just read it."

Shino resisted the urge to roll his eyes and looked down at the book, "I'm sure it's not as big as you thi- oh my _god_."

* * *

After paying the delivery boy, Ino retreated back to her living room. She couldn't find her notebook anywhere. She probably left it on the counter at the flower shop, but she could have sworn it had been in her bag… oh well, she'll look tomorrow. Taking a bite of her pizza, she hoped she hadn't dropped it in the street. Her face paled. What if someone read it? What if _Shino_ read it?!

She dropped the pizza back in the box, hurriedly put on shoes, and ran out the door, thoughts of jackets forgotten. The air was colder than before, now that the sun was down. The wind had picked up sending shivers down her spine. What if the notebook wasn't at the counter? What if she _had_ dropped it? She groaned. This day was getting worse and worse by the second.

Shino read over the words for what seemed to be the hundredth time. She… she liked him? That wasn't possible. Could it be a trick? No, Ino wasn't that kind of girl. Then… why? Why would she write something like that? Unless she meant it. Maybe she did. But that would just be so outlandish! He closed the book and just looked at it for a minute, thinking.

Kiba looked at his friend, concerned. Ino Yamanaka liked him! Shouldn't he be happy? He knew that Shino had liked her for a while, but why wasn't he happy about it? Then the thought dawned on him, "You don't believe she likes you, do you?"

"It's hard to believe, yes." His normally stoic voice had a slight waver to it, doubtful and apprehensive.

"What are you talking about? No it isn't! You're one of the best guys in the village! I mean really, is it so hard to believe? When you take your hood down and lower your collar, I hear even _Sakura_ thinks you're hot."

Shino continued to look silently down at the book.

* * *

Ino had scoured over her entire route home and found nothing. She was walking down the street, rubbing her arms in an vain effort to get warm. 'Almost to the shop,' she thought to herself, 'And then home again where you can make hot chocolate and curl up in your fuzziest blankets.' Turning onto her next street, Ino froze.

Shino and Kiba were standing there, talking. Or really, Kiba was talking, looked worried, as Shino looked at something in his hands. She audibly gasped. He was holding her journal!

Shino looked up at the noise. Oh my god. Was that..? Yeah, that was. He looked over at Kiba for support only to find the boy had run, and his (not so) little dog too. Ino was looking at him in shock. He had the feeling he had a very similar expression.

The silence was broken as small white flurries began falling from the sky. Both Shino and Ino looked up, enraptured by a sight very rare to their eyes.

"They're beautiful," said Ino, awe filling her voice.

Shino looked back at the girl in front of him, "You're beautiful."

She looked back at him, sharply, a large blush growing across her cheeks. "Don't make fun of me, Shino Aburume!" she snapped, embarrassed by the circumstances.

He faltered, surprised, "I wasn't joking, Miss Yamanaka."

She looked at the ground, flustered. "Yes, you were, Shino. You read my journal, didn't you?"

He had forgotten about the book. "Y-yes, I did," he held it out to her.

"I…" her voice faltered, "I'm sorry. I won't bother you." She picked up the book at looked at it sorrowfully.

"What if I wanted you to bother me?"

Ino looked up from the ground, shocked, "W-what was that?"

"I said what if I _wanted_ you to bother me?" Shino's face had turned a bright shade of pink, heavy in contrast to the grey, snowy, world around them.

For the first time in her life, Ino Yamanaka didn't know what to say.

Shino continued, "C-cause I like you too, but I didn't know how to tell you cause you know, girls like you don't date guys like me, and…" The boy continued flustered, trailing off into some strange story that Ino wasn't listening to.

His story stopped as she giggled. "What's so funny?" said Shino, his blush getting hotter and hotter.

She looked up from her laughter with a smile across her face, "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." Slowly, gingerly, she lowered his collar and placed a small peck on his mouth.

The bug master was shocked. Did she just kiss him? She just kissed him!

She stepped back slightly, "Sorry, I couldn't help it." He couldn't tell if her cheeks were flushed with from the cold or with happiness.

A particularly large gust of wind swept down the street. Ino yelped and hugged her arms, rubbing them for warmth. A second later, Shino's large jacket was draped over her shoulders, his hands still resting on her shoulders. Ino, surprisingly, didn't feel uncomfortable in their close proximity. In fact she kinda liked it…

Shino hesitated before placing a tentative kiss on her lips. Ino happily returned it. They hungrily explored each other, hands grazing across each others bodies.

"Wow," murmured Ino, "You're good."

"I would have to say the same for you," mumbled Shino.

Ino raised her hands and gently began removing Shino's sunglasses. She took them off slowly so Shino could stop her, if he wanted to. She didn't want to force him. To her surprise, he didn't stop her. As soon as the glasses were gone, she could see deep brown eyes that reminded her of chocolate or coffee.

"Why do you wear these sun glasses all the time?"

"It's simple, really," Shino said, "cause they make me look bad-ass."

Ino smiled, "You're a strange character, Shino."

He raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Well, one minute you're all grr," she pretended to look tough, "and the next you're this regular teenager who stutters and blushes just like the rest of us."

Surprise echoed in his eyes, "Huh. I never knew I was that threatening."

It was her turn to look skeptical, "What happened to 'they make me look bad-ass?'"

He smiled slightly, "Okay, maybe I knew a little bit."

The snow had been falling for a while now, dusting across their head and shoulders, "C'mon," he murmured, "I'll walk you home."

Ino placed her hand in his, "Sounds good."

-Fin-

Authors note: Allo everyone. Hope you enjoyed the story! If you would be so kind, could you please leave a review so taht I can improve? It would be much appreciated. :3

ps: This also, at one point in time, had been a multichapter fic I began to write but never finished, back in -oh, i guess, 2007. Been too long to properly remember. Ha, thats sad.


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